My only consolation when Obama wins will be the fact that the president actually has very little influence on the economy. There are larger factors at work than one man or one administration. Monetary policy has more influence than anything - and here I side with my buddy Milton (at least on economic issues).

For the most part a government can influence a handful of economic indicators at a time, making some look good at the expense of others. It is not responsible for the health of the economy; this is especially true of the executive branch in the US.

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market... defines and explains the term market economy, breaking it out into four separately defined categories:

1.1 Capitalism
1.2 Laissez-faire
1.3 Anarcho-capitalism
1.4 Market socialism

(2) At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_m... is a broad general discussion of the theory and application of the concept of "free market" economies.

(3) At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_... is <The Index of Economic Freedom is a series of 10 economic measurements created by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations.> The map there is interesting, indicating the nation's with the highest relative degree of economic freedom (i.e. free) are the U.S., Canada and Australia.

(4) At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capita... is a fairly broad-sweep general discussion of "capitalism."

(5) At http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_... is a dicussion of the concept of "mixed economies" which combine elements of <capitalism and socialism, or a mix of market economy and planned economy characteristics.>

1. Wikipedia is an excellent source of reliable, rigorously vetted information on everything.

2. The "free market" is not a "thing."

3. A Corporation is a person

4. None of the posters understands the basic logical principles guiding an inquiry into ontology and episetmology

5. It's absoultely excellent that Disney Corporation and its well-treated global workforce is free to churn out an endless supply of absolutely useless garbage that nobody needs or would ever buy if they thought about it for even 10 seconds.

Here's a sampling of those characteristics (of a mixed economy):

<Tax-funded, subsidized, or state-owned factors of production, infrastructure, and services:

-- libraries and other information services
-- roads and other transportation services
-- schools and other education services
-- hospitals and other health services
-- banks and other financial services
-- telephone, mail and other communication services
-- electricity and other energy services
-- water systems for drinking,

providing some autonomy over personal finances but including involuntary spending and investments such as transfer payments and other cash benefits such as:

--welfare for the poor
--social security for the aged and infirm
--government subsidies to business
--mandatory insurance (example: automobile)

and restricted by various laws, regulations:

-- environmental regulation
-- labor regulation including minimum wage laws
-- consumer regulation (example: product safety)
-- antitrust laws
-- intellectual property laws
-- incorporation laws
-- protectionism
import and export controls, such as tarrifs and quotas

and taxes and fees written or enforced with manipulation of the economy>

I think you'll agree most of these characteristics of a "mixed economy" pertain to the U.S.

As an example of the need for "some government regulation of the economy" I would site the need for environmental consumer protection, anti-trust, and intellectual property laws. I would also site the need for the Federal Reserve to regulate the growth of money supply as just one of several examples of what I consider to be essential government control of our free-market, capitalistic economy.

However, my position is primarily that of Milton Friedman in stating that Government's role is primarily to provide rules for the game and a fair playing field for buyers and sellers in a free market economy. I would also assert that the U.S. government and most State governments have gone too far beyond that role, and we'd be far better off with less government bureaurcracy, less regulation and lower taxes.

If my Grandson had lived in the former Soviet Union, he'd never have had a chance to go to Disney-world and get the Mickey Mouse toys which have brought him so much pleasure and enjoyment. Now that we've taken him to see this wonderful capitalistic attraction in Orlando, Florida, I can also take pride in the fact that we've also helped some poor people in China find employment.

It's kind of a speeded up version of a culture war over information.

In "better" encyclopedias- (Britannica?) it could be said that over time, certain entries are altered to suit changing cultural values and opinions.

This is true of many entries, such as the entry for the word "colonialism", for example.

However, <Wikipedia> is faster in this respect. Remember the <Dutch office workers> who spent a huge amount of their free time correcting and adding to chess entries on <Wiki>?

Or the <Pentagon> hiring people to alter the entries to conform more to thier taste?

<Patzer2>s response is the winner.

It is an ingenious effort-- it could be taken as literal or satirical- or even both.

Ok I vote for 4 as well.

Yes, and just about everybody else, too.

Btw, does anyone here know (approximately) how much money is currently being owed by the States to China and India (not to mention the others). If they were to call in the debt tomorrow, what do You think would happen?

<offtherook> <I mean, I've only had a pretty basic education in it<=economics> (6 semester hours of introductory courses)>

Yes, it certainly shows. It would be wise to learn more before expressing "opinions" that (for no good reason other than utter arrogance) already seem to be etched in stone.

And, yes, the same goes for your recent spitting all over concepts of "the alternative" medicine. Perhaps you should go through, and maybe even graduate one day from, a medical school first. Then try to have a few decades of practice.

Who knows, maybe You'll have some sort of an opinion then. Not necessarily the correct one, but at least an opinion.

Hong Kong went from British rule and back under Chinese soverignty in 1997. Though there is an agreement that Hong Kong will remain somewhat independent for the next 39 years (50 years on the initial agreement), the apointment of the leader of Hong Kong must be approved by the central chinese government in Beijing. So, I don't put to much stock in the guarantee of political freedoms or human rights in Hong Kong -- at least not for the long-term future.

Even so, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_K..., <Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial centres.[32] Its highly capitalist economy, built on a policy of free markets, low taxation and government non-intervention,[33] has been ranked as the most free economy in the world in the Index of Economic Freedom for 14 consecutive years.[34][35]>

Singapore is apparently independent of China, however they are pretty much ruled by a one-party elite and the guarantee of basic human rights is suspect, as they don't offer jury trials and have laws restricting the freedom of speech.

Still, it is a very business friendly capitalistic economy. For example, according to <http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor...;, <Singapore has been rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world.

I happen to live in Singapore right now, although I am a European (I love the tax rates here :-)). Singapore has never belonged to China - it's located between Malaysia and Indonesia. It did at one point belong to the Malaya Federation, from which it was subsequently kicked out. Singapore and Hong Kong are both important ports and old British colonies, which is probably why they are associated in people's minds.

The Heritage Foundation does an annual assessment, and they rate Hong Kong number one and Singapore number two. The U.S.A. comes up fifth on this rating.

The current Heritage Foundation world rankings of countries according to their degree of economic freedom can be viewed at http://www.heritage.org/research/fe....